City of Champions (30 page)

"So you have me all pegged then? You think I've always had everything my way? Had the world handed to me?"

"The way you're acting right now? I'm thinking you haven't had the world handed to you. No it seems more like the world has waited on its knees at your front door begging for you to take everything wonderful it can give you. Well. My life's not like that and
I'm
not going to be like that with you."

"That's not how my life has been and that's not how I see you."

"It sure feels that way. What with you showing up here, furious over a conversation, that is
none
of your business."

"A conversation? You were all over each other."

"It was a hug, and it's still none of your business. You have no claim on me. You can't tell me what to do."

"You're mine for two weeks, so yes, I do have a claim on you."

"If you're trying to make me like you, Wyatt, you have a really fucked up way of doing it."

"You do like me. I know you do. More than that, I know you want me."

Jenna gripped Wyatt's tee shirt in her fists and pushed his back firmly against the wall by the front door.

"I don't want you, Wyatt."

Wyatt let her have her mini takeover for a moment. She searched his face with hers, almost hesitant.

"You're a terrible fucking liar, Doc. Tell me, now that you've got me here, what are you gonna do with me?" he taunted. She kept staring at his lips until he took over again. He grabbed her ass with both hands and turned quickly, pressing her up against the same wall.

"Well, then, McCoy. What are you gonna do with
me
?" Jenna challenged back.

Wyatt slid his right hand around her body, then slowly running his fingers down the front of her jeans. She was hot through the thick cotton and responded almost immediately to his touch.

"Tell me…"

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me you want me."

"No," she sputtered at him, squirming against his hand. Wyatt popped open the top of her jeans and unzipped them so he could slip his hand into her panties. Her clit was already hard and swollen against his fingers. He rubbed it with his thumb as he curved two fingers inside of her. Jenna arched her body towards him, moaning despite herself. No matter what she said to him, her hot and wet body betrayed her. Wyatt could feel her already tightening around his pumping fingers and the circular movements of his thumb.

With his left hand he gripped her jaw, forcing her to look in his eyes, "Tell me you like the way I make you feel."

"No." She squirmed against his hand, clearly seeking sexual release, but he had her pinned firmly with the length of his body against hers and his hands, preventing her from controlling the motion.

"Tell…me…you…want…me."

"Why?" she demanded back. Her blue eyes sparkling with anger, but it was clear she was desperate.

"Because I said so and…because I want to hear it…Jenna." He stroked her harder with his thumb, suddenly twisting his two fingers inside her until she was quivering against him.

"Y-yes. Yes! I want you so bad it makes me crazy, Wyatt. Are you happy now, you son of a bitch?"

"Very," and with a smile on his face, he thrust a third finger deeply inside her, caressing her to climax with his thumb.

He did need to hear it — loved watching her writhe against the hard wall, her perfect wavy blonde hair suddenly in complete disarray. Wyatt knew he was falling apart, too, but he wasn't sure he wanted to put himself back together again.

He released his hand from her jeans and she looked at him intently.

"Why do you care if I want you, Wyatt?"

"I don't know why, but I do care…very much," he answered, stepping away from her. He could smell her on his hand as he ran it through his hair, and it made him feel even more insane.

Everything was getting away from him so quickly. Yet, he couldn't make himself worry about it very much.

"I'm still mad at you, you know," she said quietly, looking up and trying to glare at him. She zipped her jeans closed and somehow managed to make it look indignant. Wyatt liked that a lot about her.

"You can't be that mad at me. I think you got over it."

"Charming," she snipped out, but a smile tickled her mouth.

"Are you still coming back with me?"

"I don't know, yet," she said, staring at her bedroom door.

He leaned toward her, placing his hands on her cheeks and forcing her to gaze at him again. His touch was gentler now, stroking the soft flesh of her lovely face until her eyes softened slightly. Her jaw was still set in a firm, stubborn line and she was breathing heavily, apparently with both desire and barely leashed anger.

"You're still angry, Doc. I get it. I'm kind of pissed, too, you know."

Her eyes narrowed and she huffed out a hard breath, wiggling her head in an attempt to free her face from his grip, but he tightened his hold and wouldn't let her go.

"Oh no, you don't," Wyatt whispered. Then he ran his thumb across her bottom lip slowly, feeling the gentle swell of the rosy, delicate skin, before leaning down. His lips were almost touching hers when he whispered, "I don't want you to be mad at me, Doc."

She began to open her mouth to speak, but he pressed his mouth on hers before she could make a sound. His tongue charted the path where his thumb had been, separating the tight line of her mouth, until she finally gave way to him.

Caressing her lips with his, tasting her tongue with his own, he gradually brought her back to the moment with him. She sighed slightly, and Wyatt let himself ease away from her.

Her hostility was gone. In its place were her soft blue eyes and gently parted lips.

"That's more like it, belleza. Let's get going. I hope you packed everything you need, because I'm not letting you out of my sight for a minute. Do you understand me?"

"I suppose I do," she said crisply.

"I'll carry your bag."

"No way, Wyatt. Not with the way you're still favoring that shoulder. You need to rest it if you want to keep improving your throw."

"You watched the game?" he asked, a smile cracking at his cheeks. "And you think I'm improving, huh?"

"Of course I watched you play. I've always watched you."

"You have?" his heart squeezed at the thought she'd been training her pretty eyes, and sharp mind, on him for years.

"Yes, ever since you started playing in televised games. And your performance really has been great lately."

Jenna disappeared into her room and emerged with a full duffle bag. With her head held high, she started to walk toward the front door.

"Not so fast," Wyatt said quickly, taking the bag and throwing it over his left shoulder while grabbing her hand in his right one. With a tug, he brought her flush against his side and rubbed his nose against her cheek until she giggled.

"Much better. Now get comfortable, because I'm not letting you out of my grasp, either," he added, before leading her out of her apartment.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Wyatt opened the door to his house for Jenna and she tried to force herself to relax. Even though she'd spent most of the short ride from her apartment collecting her thoughts, her nerves were still jangling inside of her. The bad news from her doctor and her fight with Wyatt had left her more unsettled than she'd been in years.

"Well, Doc, I guess you remember your way around, but here's the living room through here…"

Jenna's mouth dropped open at the sight of a massive tree, covered in lights and sparkling decorations. She walked toward it with slow, hesitant steps, as though the mirage would disappear if she walked too closely to it. Her toe knocked a box, drawing her eyes downward. At her feet one box held some goofy and well-worn ornaments, while a second box held others still in their packaging.

Her eyes shifted to the large bay window at the back of the room. The sparkling reflection of the tree in the glass gave way to an almost rural view of woods and snow covered trees, arching over the ice-specked Allegheny River. Jenna knew they were mere minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, but she felt like they were in their own isolated woodland cabin, where no one — and nothing — could ever burst their delicate little bubble. The whole sight sent a rush of emotions washing through her body.

"Um, Wyatt, does the White House know you stole their Christmas tree?" she asked, with a voice she didn't quite recognize.

"Too big?"

"Not if you're trying to build a habitat for the entire bird population of Pittsburgh through the winter."

Wyatt laughed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before looking at her again.

"I had it delivered while I was gone. My assistant worked with a local nursery that brought it here and decorated the tree for us. I asked for the biggest tree they could fit in the room. I don't know, I thought if you were willing to spend Christmas with me, the least I could do was make it nice for you… If you don't like it, I can get something else."

Jenna felt a powerful twisting sensation in her chest and crossed the room to Wyatt quickly, not wanting him to misinterpret her response.

"No, please don't change a thing. I like it all very much. It's thawing out all my earlier grumpiness," she assured him, tentatively putting her fingers on his waist. Her feelings were such a jumble, but she knew she had to touch him.

"Then it was well worth it," he said, before wrapping his arms around her and nibbling at her neck. "I can get a bigger one if you want. Will that make you even happier? Would it make you want to walk around naked for the rest of the day?"

"Oh, no need for that. This tree is plenty big enough. Besides, if you want me naked, I think you and I both know no matter how mad I may get at you, you probably just need to ask," she said, with a teasing tickle of his waist.

"You've got it."

"I'm curious, though, if the nursery decorated the tree for us, what's with all these ornaments still in their boxes?"

"Some are from when I was a kid, the others are new ones I had them leave off the tree. I thought we'd want to hang some ourselves. Does that work?" He paused, staring at her with concern and asked, "Why do you look sad?"

"No, I'm happy. It's just been a long time since I can remember making good
new
Christmas memories."

"Why?"

"My mom died around Christmas, so I always had to be careful about it with my dad. Then Tea's husband died before Christmas, too, so I just treated the holiday the same way with her after that. You know, trying to be sensitive to her feelings."

"What about your feelings?"

"Oh… Those don't matter. I can take it. Someone has to be the strong one. It's just, looking at this…I forgot how beautiful it all could be."

"What would you have done if you weren't here with me?"

"I wasn't going to be rolling around with Trey, if that's what you're trying to stir up, Wyatt."

His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed so quickly that Jenna felt instantly guilty. She reached her arms around his back and pulled him more closely to her. 

"Calm down, Wyatt, I was just kidding. It was a bad joke. I'm sorry. I would've stayed by myself in the apartment."

"But you'd be all alone."

"I figured I can handle a Christmas by myself."

"Just because you
can
handle the world a certain way, doesn't mean you have to."

"You make a good point, Mr. McCoy. But that's enough of all this sappiness. How about we go for a swim together again?"

"A swim?"

"I know you don't have some elaborate indoor pool here, but I would love to take a dip in your Olympic-sized tub."

"Would you now?"

"I may have been fantasizing about it since I brushed my teeth in there."

"Okay, but there's no lifeguard on duty, you'll have to rely on me to keep you safe."

"You'd
better
be in there. That's a major part of the fantasy."

Wyatt smiled and led her into his massive bathroom and began to run the water for them.

"My sister loves to throw all kinds of crazy girly shit in here when she visits. Check out that closet over there."

"'Crazy girly shit' sounds nice," Jenna teased.

After ransacking the closet, she placed the fancy shampoo and conditioner she'd found on the side of the tub and began filling the running water with bath salts and bubble bath. She stood up after lighting a few candles from the closet, when she felt Wyatt's hands at the edges of her sweater, lifting it over her head.

"Can this be a part of your fantasy?" he whispered against her bare neck, before kissing and licking her skin.

"Definitely."

Jenna turned around and unbuttoned his shirt, sliding it down his arms slowly. Wyatt began unfastening her jeans, but he hesitated at the zipper.

"So…we're cool?" he asked.

"Wyatt, I didn't like the way you acted earlier, but I could've been more understanding. I can only imagine how I would've felt if I walked up and saw you hugging that Olivia woman." Jenna removed her bra, then kicked off her shoes and reached for the button of his jeans.